Toowoomba born and raised Sprintcar driver Dave Whell is preparing to back up last season's breakthrough win at Hi-Tec Oils Speedway, Charlton this Saturday.

Just over 12 months ago, Whell drove a calculated tyre-conserving race to claim the hard fought "Firecracker 50" and this week will be focussed on repeating his performance at the renamed "Pitstop 50."

"It's a unique concept where it's a 50 lap race with a fuel stop, but none of the teams will know prior to the race when that compulsory stop will be. As a result, no one will know whether to set their car up for a shorter first segment and longer second segment or vice versa, or maybe they will draw the 25 lap ticket out of the hat and it will an even split. Either way, everyone wants to be quick for the last segment, but they don't want to be too far back in the pack with too many cars to pass," Whell said.

"Last year we took it easy and watched while other racers used up their tyres battling for position, while we just stayed consistent and were perfectly positioned on the only lap that matters!"

Speedway Event Manager Bennie Bishop still remembers last season's event well, rating it as one of the best upsets he's seen in speedway in the nation.

"Whell and the team brought the house down last year with that win. It was smart, calculated, and it caught a lot of people off guard, and the crowd response when he got the win was euphoric!"

"It certainly is a format that opens up all sorts of possibilities and can completely mess with even the most experienced racers and teams, and that's why we love it!"

The Ultimate Sprintcars will be joined by Modified Sedans and AMCA Nationals, providing a great cross section of dirt racing entertainment, with the opening ceremony scheduled just after 6pm.

Tickets are available from 3pm at the gate or right now from speedwaytickets.com.au with the pits open to the public until 4pm.

The Eureka Garages & Sheds Sprintcar Series is off to Western Speedway Hamilton this weekend the 17th of February for round ten of the thirteen round Series and all the main players for have entered. Rusty Hickman, Brett Milburn, Tim Hutchins, Jacob Smith, Charles Hunter, Grant Stansfield plus a few other name drivers, add the night two Classic A Main front row drivers of Peter Doukas and John Vogels plus one of South Australia’s best Daniel Pestka and you have one classy field.

While Rusty Hickman is the young man at the top of the Eureka Series tree he may have his work cut out to conquer Hamilton’s Western Speedway, this will be Rusty first venture to Hamilton with a 410ci power plant.

Now some of Rusty’s main contenders in the Eureka Garages and Sheds Sprintcar Series have done quite a few laps around this track, Last season Brett Milburn took second place in this event while Brayden Parr finished one of his best drives of last season to finish third and Dennis Jones raced to a strong fourth place, these drivers are sure to be strong again for this round of the Series.

With these drivers all nominated once again there might be a little pressure added to the V40 driver Rusty Hickman.

Tim Hutchins has been showing good speed recently and with some strong performances. Tim’s last outing at Western Speedway two seasons back didn’t go to plan but on resent form he must be a real contender for another podium place.

As stated two drivers that were stars at the 2018 Grand annual Sprintcar Classic, John Vogels who is also a five times Eureka Garages & Sheds Sprintcar Series Champion and the Classic A Main front row starter Peter Doukas are in good form and will be right in the mix at this event.

While Brayden Parr has returned to form after a poor start to the season he and another young charger, the current SRA Victorian 360 Sprintcar Champion Jordyn Charge are more that capable of giving any of the drivers nominated a run for their money on the night. Jordyn the current SRA 360 Champion took that victory here at Western Speedway last season with a faultless drive.

Brayden Cooley made a big impression at Wangaratta having his first drive in a 410ci powered sprintcar owned by Peter Milnes, based on that performance it should not take Brayden long to come to terms with the Hamilton venue.

Once again Charles Hunter, Jacob Smith and Grant Stansfield will continue their quest looking for top six placing’s and just as importantly to gain good points to keep themselves locked into the Eureka Series KTM Top ten for a shot at winning the new KTM motorbike and a good slice of the Series points fund.

Western Australian Scot Reilly is looking to make his return to the driver seat this weekend after a big crash back at Premier Speedway in mid December put him on the side lines for a while. Scott raced at the venue last season so he will have some good knowledge of the track.

Daniel Pestka is a driver that is more than capable of taking the win at Western Speedway, a couple of season back Daniel driving the V88 J&J took a heat win on his first visit to the track before the weather stopped the night proceedings, Daniel has unfinished business here!

Other Series regulars Sam Wren, David Aldersley and Eddie Lumbar will be on hand looking for a good night of racing action, these drivers will be joined by Rhys Baxter, Mark Carlin, Chris Heard and two time SRA Series Champion Mike Van Bremen.

With such a strong field of competitors and nearly half the field of entries that are already sprintcar feature winners it will hard to pick a winner and with the depth of the new talented racers we may just see another driver add his name to the feature winners list, in the words of Mike Raymond “BE THERE”

On track action for the sprintcars will commence at approximately 6.15pm for engine starts and hot laps.

With more than 100 cars in the pits and with three feature events on offer, tonight’s racing at Sungold Stadium, Premier Speedway, Warrnambool always promised to produce and for Luke Weel it proved to be just that as he claimed Round 5 of the Wingless Sprint Super Series.

Weel was joined on the podium by second place finisher Glenn Watts and Luke Storer who finished third.

During the night there were ten heats contested with wins going the way of David Cook, Luke Weel, Daniel Storer, William Caruso and Christopher Temby in the first round before Mitchell Broome, Weel, Michael McDonald, Luke Storer and Alex Thomson secured wins in th second round of heats.

The unique Wingless Sprint Super Series format also saw not one, not two, but three B-Main’s contested with Joel Heinrich, Mitchell Broome and Todd Hobson all claiming victory and making their way to the A-Main.

The next race meeting at Sungold Stadium, Premier Speedway, Warrnambool will be held on Sunday March 11, 2018 and will feature the Grand Final of the Eureka Sprintcar Series as well as the Victorian Legend Car Title.

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HOBART WSS RAINED OUT

Rain has forced the cancellation of Round 10 of QSS World Series Sprintcars at Solo Hobart Speedway before a wheel was even turned.

A downpour just after 4pm dissolved any hope of the series return to the venue for the first time since 2010, and continued showers throughout the afternoon sealed the decision.

As a result, the series has encountered a tightening of the points chase, with only four rounds remaining in Western Australia to decide the 2017-18 Champion on February 25 at the Perth Motorplex.

The team haulers will cross the Bass Strait Sunday morning before heading across the Nullarbor for round 11 at Albany next Friday and onto Bunbury the next night.

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Allstar Sprintcars Head Back To Heartland

As the hectic month of February continues the All Star Series heads back to Heartland Raceway for Round 8 of the Mainline DynoLog Dynamometers All Star Series this Saturday 10th February.

Holding the second round their back in November drivers are keen to get back to the big almost half mile complex. The wide open track is always popular amongst the teams and this weekend will be no exception.

“We have a fantastic car count with nearly 30 cars nominated. Paul Solom on took out the feature last November and wants to double up again this weekend, and with the points getting really serious now it is even more important to all the top teams. Caruso still holds a marginal lead of 43 points from Paul Solomon and Chris Solomon in three rounds only three points behind his brother.” Mandy Searle said.

It is the last long drive for all the South Australian teams before they get to run closer to home for the next 3 shows. Crossing the Victorian border again will be Mark Caruso ’s SA33, Dan Evans SA77, Jarman Dalitz SA95, Cody Atkins SA69, young guns Jacko Gartner SA16 & Ben Gartner’s SA32, newcomer SA38 Lachlan McDonough and young female racer Cheian Perrett’s SA98. An impressive effort from the South Aussie teams.

Brenten Farrer’s V34 is back in form after winning at Horsham last weekend. Farrer is another that loves the Heartland track and would love to make this his third A Main win for the season. Locky picked up a podium last weekend finishing 2nd and would dearly love to get another A Main win and in doing so he would tie with Tony Moule as the driver to win the most A mains in the history of the Series. Hard charging Brayden Parr's V77 is back with the series as is V6 Eddie Lumbar & V64 'Buzzard' Aldersley. Throw inTancredi, Moule, Campbell and all the series regulars the racing will be hard and fast as always. Racing from 6.00pm Heartland Raceway, Moama. NSW

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Rusty Hickman takes Eureka Series R9 Win at WangarattaBy Ian Vale

The Sprintcar Racing Association of Victoria returned to the Wangaratta Speedway after fifteen years to conduct round nine of the Eureka Garages & Sheds Sprintcars Series that was won by Series point’s leader Rusty Hickman in a very entertaining feature race from Tim Hutchins and Brayden Parr.

With warm conditions greeting the competitors once again the question was how would the track hold up? The venue operators did their best to give the sprintcar drivers a good track, after the first two rounds of heat race the track widen out that would produce some good racing in the third round of heats and a top Eureka Garages & Sheds A Main event with plenty of racing two wide throughout the event.

Time Trial groups set the heats ready for the nights racing with the top two drivers in the Series, Rusty Hickman and Tim Hutchins setting the fastest times in their groups to gain a front row start in their first heat race. An early casualty was Eddie lumbar to have a magneto failure to miss his time trial and his night didn’t get any better.

Heats race over and Rusty Hickman topped the points table in the V40 J&J to start on pole position for the Eureka Garages & Sheds A main event, alongside Rusty on the front row would be Tim Hutchins, the order for the main was set, row two was taken by V88 Grant Stansfield and V8 Bobby Daly with V77 Brayden Parr and V68 Brett Milburn in row three to fill the top six positions.

The speed that Rusty Hickman has been showing of late indicated he would be hard to beat but at the drop of the Green Flag for the Eureka A Main Tim Hutchins was ready and beat Rusty into the first turn and the lead of the race. Such was Hutchins race pace he was opening a gap in the first five laps before the race settled down.

Behind the leading pair was Grant Stansfield while both Brayden Parr and Bobby Daly raced hard side by side looking for fourth place leaving Brett Milburn and Charles Hunter in a battle of their own for sixth.

One third race distance and the leaders were into lapped traffic where Rusty Hickman saw his chance and pounced to take the race lead and quickly put a lapped car between himself and Tim Hutchins.

Both Parr and Daly continued to put on a show running two wide up track before Parr got the break to set out after Grant Stansfield for third place. The order was now Hickman, Hutchins, Stansfield, Parr, Daly, Milburn, Hunter, Dennis Jones, Mike Van Bremen and Brayden Cooley filling the top ten position when the caution lights came on for Rod Matthews when he tagged the turn three while running high on the track.

Back under way and with a clear track Hickman opened a gap to Hutchins leaving Parr to challenge Stansfield for fourth place, but the real action was further back in the pack. The condition of the race track was allowing some great two wide racing between many of the drivers but it was Brayden Cooley driving the Peter Milnes V51 that had everyone’s attention racing high up on the track passing car after car to be in reach of the top five cars in the run to the flag.

As the laps wound down the racing action would go all the way to the chequered flag with drivers making passes around the top and down low, Cooley could get up beside Daly lap after lap but could not quite make the pass. Parr would win his battle with Stansfield to take third place and set his sight on Hutchins while Milburn and Hunter continued their battle leavening Mike Van Bremen, Dennis Jones and Jacob Smith in a top battle of their own changing placing’s lap after lap as was Chris Heard and Sam Wren.

Up front Hickman was in control passing traffic wherever he please but Parr was working on Hutchins to take second place with two to go, Hutchins was not taking any of this and regained second place next time around, Hunter also got the better of Milburn to move into third place with two to go.

Thirty racing laps done and Rusty Hickman greeted the chequered flag to take his first Eureka Garages & Sheds Sprintcar Series win this season, second home after a tough fight went to Tim Hutchins, Brayden Parr settled for third place and a return to good form, Grant Stansfield with another top drive took fourth place ahead of Bobby Daly in fifth, Braden Cooley in sixth with a very impressive performance all night. Home in seventh was Charles Hunter leaving Brett Milburn in eight place, ninth went to Mike Van Bremen and Jacob Smith finished in tenth place, rounding out the finishers were Dennis Jones, Sam Wren, Chris Heard, Mark Carlin, Robert Nicholas and David Aldersley.

The Eureka Garages & Shed Sprintcar Series returns to Western Speedway Hamilton for round ten to be conducted on Saturday the17th of February 2018.For more information go to the Simpson Speedway site. www.westernspeedwayhamilton.com.au

Krikke Motorsport's Jamie Veal has claimed his first QSS World Series Sprintcars win of the season at for round 9 at Latrobe, slightly closing the points gap on series leader James McFadden who drove from the B Main to salvage 10th.

Fellow Warrnamboolian Darren Mollenoyux backed up his win last night with an impressive runner-up result, while Adelaide's Brad Keller claimed third for his first WSS podium of the season.

Veal's return to victory lane began by qualifying 7th while West Australia's Jason Pryde collected his first ever Revolution Racegear Quicktime as the only driver to circulate under fourteen seconds on a racetrack that was already taking rubber.

Veal showed his form in the first heat of the night when he passed four cars in one move to win emphatically, backing it up with a 4th in the second round, and advancing to pole in the gold shootout.

The Transport Equipment Hire #W2 led from start to finish in the 30 lap feature race, while the remaining positions were shuffled between Mollenoyux, Keller and Steve Lines who traded blows for the first half of the race.

The series remains in the Apple Isle for round 10 at Solo Hobart Speedway next Saturday before heading across the Nullarbor for the Western Swing the following weekend.

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"MOLLY" CLAIMS BREAKTHROUGH WSS WIN AT LATROBE

Warrnambool's Darren Mollenoyux has claimed his first ever QSS World Series Sprintcars A-Main win in emphatic style at Latrobe's Gulf Western and Independent Oils Raceway, Tasmania.

"Molly" started the night qualifying in second behind 16-year-old Jock Goodyer who became the first ever Tasmanian to claim Revolution Racegear Quicktime in his home state, with an impressive 11.457 lap on a very tricky and moist race surface.

Despite only placing ninth and fifth in his heats, Mollenoyux still qualified on pole for the 30 lap A-Main alongside crowd favourite in Tasmanian-native Shaun Dobson.

Sadly Dobson did not complete a full circulation after what seemed like a minor contact with James McFadden in the back straight damaged the left side of the car, sending the VA21 into a mid-corner spin and into the path of West Australian James Inglis that retired both cars instantly.

Mollenoyux was aggressive on the restart and was never headed, however a brutal cushion formed below mid track at both ends, catching out a lot of racers including Californian Dom Scelzi who took a major tumble after skipping the berm and crunching the front straight wall in lap five.

Mount Gambian Glen Sutherland held onto second until lap 19 when a failed attempt for the lead unsettled the car and opened a gap for McFadden to inherit the spot through to the end, albeit with major damage to the front wing that would eventually completely fold over on the W17.

Lachlan McHugh also enjoyed a breakthrough podium result after originally starting from sixth, ahead of Steve Lines in fourth and Hoosier Hard Charger winner, Jamie Bricknall who advanced nine spaces to finish fifth.

Mollenoyux's win bagged an impressive 326 points from the round, elevating him to seventh in the overall championship, while James McFadden banked 299 points to give him a substantial lead in the campaign to defend his crown.

The series remains at Latrobe for round nine tonight before heading to Hobart next Saturday to close out the series' first visit to Tasmania since December 2010.

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Hectic month of February

The month ahead is hectic for the All Stars with racing at 5 different tracks in 3 different states over a 5 weekend period. Hundreds of kilometres will be clocked up and many hours of mid-week work in the shed to make it all happen. To kick off this period RD 7 of the Mainline DynoLog Dynamometers All Star Series will be run this Saturday night at Blue Ribbon Raceway, Horsham. The Series heads to their 6th race track in 7 shows. “So many different tracks challenge’s every driver and keeps everyone on even ground – no home track favourites for our guys!” Searle tells us. “We love to take our show to so many different tracks & fans and show off our talented drivers. Blue Ribbon Raceway is an awesome track to visit. The Committee have done so much work there over the past couple of seasons.”

Series champ Chris Solomon’s V83 currently sits in 2nd place in the Championship and wants to secure top points for Saturday night. Mark Caruso’s SA33 is leading the series but only has a 30 point buffer over Solomon. Elder brother Paul Solomon’s V7 sits in 3rd place. All of the top 3 are past Series Champions and you can guarantee there will be a battle between them all to become the first two time winner of the Series.

Newcomer to the All Stars is WA30 Jamie Landrigan. Landrigan is making the long haul from Port Headland in West Australia – yep that’s only 4500ks. Landrigan is a regular on the scene in WA running both 360 and 410’s and getting some good results for his short racing career. The team plan on catching about 3 shows before heading back home.

Young cousins Jack and Ben Gartner are both improving each time they hit the track and with Jack’s SA16 Cool sitting in 4th place is proof. V29 Michael Tancredi has had Crew Chief guru Tony Bartlett on the spanners for the past couple of shows and is really getting confidence in the car. Brenten Farrer’s V34 will also be working towards a podium after having a mixed season so far with mechanical issues dampening his season. SA95 Jarman Dalitz and SA69 Cody Atkins are a couple more that are making the trip across the South Australian border. Throw in hard charger SA44 Dan Evans and Mr. Consistency James Wren’s V16, V78 Chris Campbell who has run nearly every weekend this season in either a 410 or 360 and racing is guaranteed to be exciting.

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Parr Motorsports Track Premiership Gets A Classic Shake Up!

By David Mills

The Parr Motorsports Premier Speedway Track Championship, has really tightened up with just two rounds to be run following the three nights of competition during the South West Conveyancing Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic.

With drivers able to secure points, not only in the Classic final, but also in the A-Main of the two qualifying nights, the battle has certainly tightened up at the top of the table.

For the 2017-18 season, drivers no longer have the luxury of dropping their worst result, thus meaning the winner will be rewarded for season long consistency, in the chase for the prize worth a cool $10,000.00 courtesy of Parr Motorsports.

Having recorded an eighth-place finish in the re-scheduled Saturday night preliminary feature, Darren Mollenoyux was able to back that up with another eighth place run in the 40 lap Classic final to close the gap on Jamie Veal, who had held a 38-point lead on the eve of the Classic weekend.

This 38-point lead has now been reduced to just two points, or one racing position, with only the Eureka Sprintcar Series Grand Final on Sunday March 11 and the finale to the Geelong Harley Davidson Easter Sprintcar Trail remaining to be run!

Peter Doukas, who also produced a Classic weekend to remember, is still within reach, albeit that he will need everything to fall into place if he is to challenger Veal and Mollenoyux for the Parr Motorsports Track Premiership Crown.

Doukas secured a total of 276 points for his two A-Main appearances at the weekend to move to third in the points standings, 74 points adrift of Veal.

Glen Sutherland and 2018 Classic Champion Corey McCullagh round out the top five, with both drivers securing a strong bounty of points over the Classic weekend, with Sutherland adding 234 points to his tally while McCullagh secured 292 in what was a weekend for the ages for the Warrnambool based driver.

So, with two nights of competition remaining, the Parr Motorpsorts Track Premiership at Sungold Stadium, Premier Speedway, Warrnambool is going to be one battle that won’t be decided until Easter Sunday night.

With potential for anyone driver to claim a maximum of 154 points from each of the remaining events and with points only paid out for A-Main starters, whoever has designs on claiming the 2017-18 Parr Motorsports Track Premiership still needs everything to go their way!

In a remarkable race that featured as many heroic performances as it did hard luck moments, Nathan Smee climbed from position 10 to win the Stan Burrow Midget Stampede at Ausdeck Patios Archerfield Speedway on Saturday night (January 20). Making the most of their moment in the spotlight, the Midgets put on a mighty show as Smee chased down New Zealand's Hayden Williams, who controlled much of the race despite a deflating rear tyre that eventually ended his campaign just two laps from home. In a stunning Midget debut, Sprintcar ace Callum Walker stormed into second spot, with another youngster in Kaiden Brown surging back to third after a spin early in the race. Brock Dean finished fourth ahead of Anthony Chaffey, with Brad Young and Mitchell Rooke both producing what is perhaps their best-ever performances to snag sixth and seventh respectively, with Mark George, Scott Farmer and Cal Whatmore rounding out the top ten.

Time trials kicked things off and, quite remarkably, it was Walker who set the early benchmark with a best lap of 13.499, a time that would only be bettered by Farmer with a 13.425 circulation, leaving Vine (13.518) third best ahead of Dean (13.573) and Chaffey (13.687). Adam Clarke, Young, George, Williams and Reid Mackay were the best of the rest, with Smee languishing in 16th overall.

Williams made his intentions clear in the opening heat, advancing from the third row to win ahead of Vine and Clarke.

Rob Mackay made the most of a pole position start in heat two to lead all the way in downing Chaffey and George, with Smee outpacing Brown and Cal Whatmore to win heat three.

Clarke cruised home to win heat four from Andy Hassan and Mitchell Rooke before Audie Malt snared his first Midget win in heat five, leading home Young and Brad Harrison.

Williams wrapped up the preliminaries with another win in the final heat, this time ahead of Smee and Vine, and it was the latter who emerged as the top qualifier heading into the Pole Shootout.

The Bronze round of the Shootout saw Dean and Walker advance as Farmer and Young resigned themselves to sharing the fourth row of the feature race grid. Williams was far too swift in the Silver showdown, taking Chaffey with him into the final clash as Dean and Walker exited. In the Gold Shootout, Williams was again too strong, securing pole position for the 40-lap feature race. Clarke was second best, leaving Chaffey and Vine to come from row two.

Nathan Mathers prevailed in the B Main, leading Malt, Dallas Sharp, Hassan and Don Mackay to the line.

At the drop of the green, Clarke catapulted from the outside to lead Williams though the opening laps and the order at the front remained unchanged until lap 11 when Williams moved ahead, only for a spin by Brown in turn four to trigger a restart that put Clarke back in front. However, Williams wasted no time after the resumption in reversing the positions and reclaiming the lead, with his advantage growing as the action further back intensified. Smee was making steady progress through the field and had advanced to fourth after 15 laps, the leaders bunching again for another restart on lap 16 after Rob Mackay and Farmer parked in turn two.

A lap later, Smee surged into third and then reeled in Clarke to secure second spot on lap 22. Out front, Williams still looked very comfortable despite the fact that his left rear tyre had been deflating for several laps, with nobody really making much progress in their attempt to chase him down. However, when Williams climbed the kerb in his efforts to negotiate a lapped car, the impact on the wheel proved the death knell for the Kiwi ace and the tyre shredded with just two laps remaining, elevating Smee into the lead. Despite claims from several of the top eight qualifiers in pre-race interviews that the highline would be their preferred option if the track was conducive, Vine was the only one who backed his words with actions and it looked likely to pay off with a podium place seemingly secured until he too exited in the closing stages.

Elevated back to second place upon Williams exiting, Clarke threw away his spot with a spin in turn three as Smee swept under the chequer to score a hard fought result. Clarke's demise moved Walker into second spot ahead of Brown, whose fight back was impressive indeed. Dean narrowly missed a podium berth, while Chaffey, Young, Rooke and George all finished ahead of Farmer, who has been the standout in local competition so far this season. Behind Whatmore came Rob Mackay and Audie Malt, with Clarke classified 13th ahead of Hassan and Harrison.

After a trying night, where the competitors and teams need to be applauded for their resilience along with our loyal fans, the Night 2 program was unfortunately terminated due to rain, with just the 30-lap A-Main to run on Night 2 of the South West Conveyancing Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic.

The A-Main will be run tomorrow, proceeding the Night 3 program, which still isn’t finalised due to the all-important A-Main points and passing points.

The program of events will be:

Gate Opening: 1.30pm for ticket holders.

Tickets: Night Three Ticket Holders will be admitted to the venue.

Officials Meeting: 3.00pm

Sprintcar Drivers Briefing 3.20pm

Super Rods Drivers Briefing 3.40pm.

Cars on Track at 4.00pm for the conclusion of the Night 2 program.

It is anticipated that the usual Night 3 program will commence from 5.00pm as previously advertised.

Once again we thank everyone for their understanding and co-operation.

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Austin McCarl Subs

by David Mills

The 2018 South West Conveyancing Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic, already has the iconic Dumesny Family Father and Son combinations, as well as the Brazier’s with Garry and Jordyn in addition to Steve as Crew Chief, but now the Classic will welcome an American Father-Son combination with Austin McCarl set to join his father Terry in the field next week.

McCarl, replaces Travis Rilat in the Phil Seymour owned USA29 entry, after it was revealed this week that Rilat was unable to make the trip to Australia.

Austin, who in 2017 finished a very impressive third in the Knoxville Raceway Track Championship, driving the TKS Motorsport 2KS Maxim, will be one of the many drivers hungry to claim not only the Classic win, but also the Skwid Signs Hard Charger Award!

The award, which is now a long running part of the Classic weekend, rewards the driver who passes the most cars in the Sunday night A-Main, a feat which was achieved by Cory Eliason in 2017.

The prize on offer is a complete Sprintcar design and wrap courtesy of the Mt. Gambier based Skwid Signs including one top and one front wing to the value of $2,500.00, which is to be claimed ahead of the 2018-19 season.

“To be honest we can’t thank Newton Bradley and the guys at Skwid Signs enough for their continued support of the Classic, we are very fortunate to again have them on board as we look forward to rewarding someone for putting on a show in the 40-lap Classic finale”, Premier Speedway General Manager David Mills said.

McCarl who will arrive in Australia on Monday, having hastily arranged his travel plans for his maiden visit to the Classic, enjoyed not only strong performances in the Knoxville Raceway Track Championship, but also during the famed Knoxville Nationals, where he qualified strongly on his qualifying night (11th) and managed to transfer through his heat and directly qualify for the A-Main.

Having a clot of mud, dislodge a plug wire as well as breaking the plug, saw McCarl wrestle with an ailing car, which despite being on only seven cylinders, was still good enough to record a fifth- place finish behind Kyle Larson, Donny Schatz, Greg Hodnett and Brad Sweet, all of whom Austin will now join as drivers to have contested the Classic.

In the Saturday night Knoxville Nationals finale, the 50 lap feature would eventually see a part failure resulting in McCarl’s 2017 National’s Dream go up in smoke, thus recording a 22nd place finish.

Arguably one of McCarl’s best performances of the season, came on the Sunday prior to the Knoxville Nationals when he placed fifth of the 70 cars that entered the Capitani Classic. The only drivers to place better than McCarl were the winner Brian Brown, Kerry Madsen, Brad Sweet and Greg Hodnett.

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GARY ROOKE ROARS HOME IN NOWRA

Official release: Speedcar Association of NSW

January 9, 2018

By Shaun McDonald

Veteran Gary Rooke took a commanding victory at the very picturesque Nowra Speedway in steamy conditions on Saturday night.

Rooke was high-points man going into the final and led every lap to take the win on what is effectively his home track.

Second to the line was Donald Mackay and Braydan Willmington put on a great performance to snare third.

Although down on numbers with other drivers running events interstate, the Speedcars entertained the big Nowra crowd on what was a great surface.

Finishing fourth was Dan Biner followed by Bob Jackson, Jamie Hall and Mitch Brien. The only non-finisher of the main event was Jordan Mackay. Clint Leibhardt was unfortunately a non-starter. Earlier in the night, two entertaining heat races were conducted with Gary Rooke winning both of those, earning himself a clean sweep.

“It was a fun night tonight,” Gary said at the presentations. “It was good to get a win at Nowra in front of a great crowd as well.”

The Speedcar Association of NSW thanks the drivers for putting on a great show in very hot conditions.

The next event for the Speedcar Association of NSW is the much anticipated Australian Title at South Australia’s Murray Bridge Speedway. A number of local drivers will be heading to South Australia with the hope of bringing the A1 back to NSW.

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SPRINTCARS AND STREET STOCKS HEADLINE REDLINE THIS SATURDAY NIGHT

By Dean Thompson

Racing at Redline Raceway returns this Saturday night January the 13th with the Victorian Sprintcar Association competitors returning after a couple of years absence from the venue to be one of the two main attractions, the other main attraction being the Duo Mobile Eliminator Cup for Street Stocks, where typically the competitors will swap paint as they get around the track four wide.

The Sprintcar field includes Redline member James Hennessy who has been a proven competitor amongst elite competition in recent seasons. He will have his hands full with the likes of Mitch Foster who recently had a win in Gippsland, Shane Steenholdt who has been at the top of the VSA ranks for the last few seasons and Adam Greenwood who is always amongst the leaders.

Gates open at 2pm racing begins at 5.00pm, prices for this meeting are adults $20- Aged & Disabled Pensioner $15, kids 5 to 15 years of age al at $5 each, whilst under 6 years of age is free & a family of 2 adults and 3 kids at paying age, $50-. Contact for information 0418 399 917

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Macedo, Madsen and Co Add To Classic Talent

The number of entrants continue to grow with the talented duo of Carson Macedo and Ian Madsen amongst those to have beaten the nomination deadline as the list now exceeds 110 cars.

Having become a regular visitor to Australia over the past couple of seasons, Carson Macedo returns to our shores to drive for Sean and Felicity Dyson at the 2018 South West Conveyancing Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic.

Having raced since the age of four, Carson was always going to put his talents to good use and at just a tender 21 years of age, he has the racing world at his feet, having already campaigned for legendary American Car Owners or Teams including Keith Kunz, Tarlton Motorsports and Joe Gaerte Racing.

In 2017 Macedo kicked things off in the days prior to the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic, by claiming what is arguably Australia’s toughest single night of competition, Avalon Raceway’s President’s Cup.

The 2017 Classic saw Dyson Motorsports finish 13th in the star-studded A-Main, before a return to the United States netted Macedo 11 feature race wins across a diverse range of tracks and series, even switching disciplines at times from Winged Sprints to Midgets.

His Knoxville Nationals saw him place 13th in the World Challenge on the Friday night program, also missing a transfer into the Friday night A-Main by just one spot. This meant he was confined to the C-Main on the final night of the Nationals, keeping pretty good company with the likes of Jamie Veal, James McFadden, Jordyn Brazier, Danny Lasoski and Jac Haudenschild amongst others.

His best World of Outlaws result for the season came at Silver Dollar Speedway where he finished 7th, having previously recorded his first WOO win in 2016.

Sean and Felicity Dyson know what it takes to win the Classic, having saluted with Tim Kaeding in 2014 and they will have all the ingredients to do it again in 2018.

Ian Madsen is coming off a stellar American season, where he captured the coveted Knoxville Raceway Track Championship s well as recording top ten finish in the 40 lap finale to the Knoxville Nationals.

With success comes opportunity and Madsen will now also be looking forward to a full-time tour with the World of Outlaws upon his return to the United States.

For the Classic Sydney based car owner James Matherson will join forces with the younger of the Madsen’s as he wheels the N49.

Madsen will be joined in the field by another New South Welshman, Peter Bourke.

Bourke campaigns the N79 entry and managed to qualify for the C-Main at the 2017 Classic, eventually being scored as 17th.

Queensland’s list of Classic entrants has also grown with regular Classic entrant Darren Jensen once again signaling his intent to be a part of the field.

The in-flux of South Aussies in the field has also grown with Sam Putland and Daniel Evans.

Terry Kelly, who hails from Cardross in Victoria will compete in the South Australian registered S27. Victorian, Adam King will also aim to improve on his 2017 result at the Classic, when he rolls into town. Robert Nicholas, another of the Victorian drivers, will also contest the Classic.

Nine-time World of Outlaws Sprintcars Series Champion Donny Schatz has regained his authority on the Australian Sprintcar Open with a dominant flag to flag win at Brisbane's Archerfield Speedway.

Schatz started on the front row outside of Kerry Madsen who was aiming for hat-trick after winning the two previous years but Schatz led the 50 lap contest from start to finish with only one caution brought on by a spin from Bryan Mann on lap nine.

Despite his best efforts, Madsen couldn't reel-in the North Dakota native who was able to maintain a six second lead for the majority of the race, claiming his 25th World Series Sprintcars A-Main win since his first victory in the series in Kalgoorlie in 1999.

"This is a great way to finish off our trip to Australia. The track was way more slick then I expected so it turned out to be vital to get a good start over Kerry."

The remaining podium positions were decided somewhat controversially however, after Madsen was deemed to have made an illegal infield pass on Pennsylvanian Lucas Wolfe with a post-race ruling awarding Wolfe second place and Madsen relegated to 3rd.

"The chief steward made the right call there," Madsen said to the surprise of the huge crowd, "because on a track like that I had to try whatever I could to make a pass on Lucas and unfortunately I found myself across the bottom line. But this has been a massive few weeks for our team and they have worked extremely hard and I am so grateful to be on the podium and still having fun."

Wolfe was surprised about the ruling but thankful regardless. "Making the ruling after the race is a little bit different to what I am used to back in the States, but I am just pleased for everyone at Ayers Racing who gave me a great package for my whole Australian visit and I am really pleased to repay them with the podium on our last night in Brisbane."

Jamie Veal was the first World Series contracted driver home in fourth ahead of Californian Carson Macedo and defending series champion James McFadden. Lockie McHugh finished an impressive seventh ahead of David Murcott, Logan Schuchart and Darren Mollenoyux.

QSS World Series Sprintcars takes a short break for the remainder of January as the nation's best Sprintcar exponents embark on the month of money starting with the Scott Darley Challenge next weekend at Valvoline Raceway Sydney, the Australian Sprintcar Title at Mount Gambier on the following weekend before Warrnambool's Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic on the Australia Day weekend.

The QSS backed series resumes on Friday February 3 at Tasmania's Gulf Western Independent Oils Speedway Latrobe for a double header weekend with two separate rounds at the same venue on Friday and Saturday.

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Madsen Powers to Preliminary Win

Archerfield Speedway Media Release

Kerry Madsen in action at BIS. Chris Metcalk Photo

By Chris Metcalf

Kerry Madsen staked his claim for back-to-back Australian Open successes with a rollicking race to victory in the Preliminary Feature on Friday night at Ausdeck Patios Archerfield Speedway on Friday night (December 5). It was World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz who leapt from the second row to lead the opening two laps before succumbing to Madsen's highline heroics. Whilst the margin fluctuated, Schatz never lost contact with Madsen and the pair was separated by less than a second at the chequer. California's Carson Marcedo clinched third spot ahead of James McFadden, with Logan Schuchart the third American inside the top five. Lachlan McHugh secured sixth to be the first Queenslander home, with Lucas Wolfe, David Murcott, Jamie Veal and Shaun Dobson rounding out the top ten.

A far cry from the previous round in which he needed to execute an alphabet run to secure a spot in the feature, Marcedo all but booked his berth in the preliminary main when he topped qualifying with a best lap of 11.854, nudging Madsen (11.891) from the top spot. McFadden (11.948) was the only other to go under 12 seconds, with Veal (12.058) and Schatz (12.074) completing the five fastest. Schuchart, Sam Walsh, Murcott, Tim Van Ginniken and McHugh were the best of the other 40 runners, with Mitchell Gee ending his night early when a steering failure sent him into the turn three wall.

Brent Kratzmann got the heat action underway with a win over Andrew Scheuerle and Veal, with Marcedo storming from 10th to fourth in a feat that, whilst impressive, would be bettered several times in subsequent heats.

McFadden wowed in the second heat to advance from the back to the front, leading Peter Lack and Kevin Titman to the line. West Australia's Daniel Harding executed a high impact crash in turn three that left his car crumpled and out of action for the rest of the night.

Dominic Scelzi was untroubled from pole position in heat three, leading home teammate Mitchell Wormall and the 10th-starting Madsen.

Kaiden Manders claimed heat four from Dobson and Schatz, before Scheuerle romped home in heat five over Steven Lines and Schuchart.

Jack Lee downed Murcott and McFadden in heat six and then it was Allan Woods who outpaced Madsen and Darren Jensen in heat seven.

The final heat saw Scelzi double up with another win, this time ahead of Manders and Schatz, but it still wasn't enough to secure a place in the feature field.

A scrappy start to the B main saw Jason Pryde climb over Jye O'Keefe, who emerged from this incident unscathed only to exit three laps later when he and Kevin Titman crashed heavily in the main straight. Once back underway, the racing was intense with slidejobs aplenty as drivers jockeyed to be amongst the first four to secure a spot in the feature. It was Oldfield who led the way, taking Manders, Scelzi and Mollenoyux with him into preliminary final.

At the green, Schatz powered past Madsen and McFadden to lead the opening lap of the preliminary feature. Madsen, though, would charge around the outside of Schatz to take control. Even whilst engaged in a dice for the lead, the pair cleared away from the field in what might prove a precursor to the battle that will unfold on Saturday night. Marcedo was not quite mighty enough to chase down the leaders, settling for third ahead of McFadden, Schuchart and McHugh. Wolfe, Murcott, Veal and Dobson rounded out the top ten on night one, with plenty of potential permutations yet to be played out.

The Performance Wholesale Australian Sprintcar Open continues tonight (Saturday, January 6) at Ausdeck Patios Archerfield Speedway.

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PPM Headlines Big Batch of Classic Entries, 100 Plus Now Entered

The 2018 South West Conveyancing Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic has once again broken into the rare air that is a 100 plus car entry list, with Parker Price-Miller headlining a big batch of drivers who nominated today.

With more entries still expected the Classic will again be one of, if not the biggest Sprintcar field of the year once again, as it becomes the sole qualifier for the Speed Sport News Challenge as held annually as an integral part of the Knoxville Nationals.

Price-Miller who hails from Kokomo, Indiana, which is located a short distance from the Motorsport Capital of the World, Indianapolis, and also home to the famed Kokomo Speedway spent the early portion of the World of Outlaws Tour as a teammate to Paul McMahan at Destiny Motorsports.After leaving the tour full-time at the end of April, the now 18 year-old , eventually re-joined the World of Outlaws full time in September replacing McMahan in a mutually agreed change.

Overall Price Miller finished 19th in World of Outlaws points, claiming one win along the way, in his home state of Indiana at the Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Overall along with that win, the youngster finished with a further top 5 finish and another 4 top ten results.

In 2016 he stamped his class all over the Canadian Nationals , where he would claim the win and pocket a cool $12,000.00 for his efforts, a result that certainly shot him to prominence.

His 2017 Knoxville Nationals campaign ended after a positive start on his qualifying night, he finished 16th in the A-Main. After being forced to pull in during his heat, after earlier setting a strong qualifying time in the last chance Friday night portion of the Nationals, he was unable to partake in any of the Main events, effectively ending his campaign.

Price-Miller will be a teammate to West Australian Daniel Harding, having already completed a strong run of races over the hectic Christmas period at the Perth Motorplex, where he produced some strong results including a win on Boxing Night.

Sure to be a fan favourite, Price-Miller will make the trek to Warrnambool, after taking a break from his Australian racing duties to return home to contest the famed Chili Bowl, an event he did very well at in 2017.

Another of the 2017 Classic A-Main starters, Matt Egel, is also aiming to improve on his result when the green flag drops in two weeks time.

Egel, who claimed a World Series Sprintcars Speedweek win at Avalon on December 30, will again team up with the Downing Brothers as they shoot to improve on their 17th place finish of last year.

A pair of hard charging Victorians will also be on show with John Vogels and Brett Milburn. Vogels finished 11th in B-Main 2 in 2017, while Milburn went from driver to car-owner for American Star Shane Stewart, who qualified into the A-Main.

Another of the South Aussies to impress during Speedweek was Brock Hallett with the exciting former Formula 500 star using his preferred high groove with aplomb whenever the opportunity arose.

He will be joined in the field by another of the South Aussie’s with Chad Ely again securing the drive for Jamie Stark aboard the S72 Maxim.

Ely is another to have logged some laps during Speedweek and come the Classic will be ultra sharp as he looks to improve on his seventh place in C-Main 1 from 2017.

Former World Series Sprintcars contracted driver, Muswellbrook, New South Wales based Andrew Wright returns to the Classic having missed the 2017 edition through injury.

Wright won’t be alone in the trip down the Hume Highway, with a pair of Classic debutants, Matthew Thomas and Chris McInerney also making the journey to Warrnambool.

Eddie Lumbar who by his own admission had a disappointing 2017 Classic is back after having found some gremlins within his Maxim.

Young Victorian Jordyn Charge finished 13th in C-Main 1 in 2017, and he will be looking to improve on that, with his childhood dream of a Classic final start not out of his reach.

Having gained the support of world reknowned Car Owner and Racer, Tasmanian Robin Dawkins over the past off-season, Charge has shown considerable speed at times already this year.

Charge will also be joined by a trio of his fellow Garden State Gasmen with Brad Warren.

Daniel Newnham has made a comeback after previously not having turned a lap since the 2016 Australian Championship at Sungold Stadium. He will be joined by Werribee’s David Aldersley who will be at the wheel of his familiar FTW Transport, Total Tools backed V64, which will utilize a Foster Chassis.

Rounding out the century breaking list of entries is another New South Welshman, Guy Stanshall, who has entered aboard the N18. Interestingly N18 is the car number that Ian Loudoun ran with great distinction including a Classic victory.

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SCHATZ LEADS AMERICAN INVASION AT ARCHERFIELD

Reigning World of Outlaws Champion, Donny Schatz has led home fellow American Lucas Wolfe to claim round six of QSS World Series Sprintcars at Ausdeck Archerfield Speedway, Brisbane.

Schatz started the night timing second quickest behind Revolution Racegear Quicktime recipient Luke Oldfield, and moved forward in his heats to bank enough points to start from pole after winning the Gold Shootout.

Wolfe however started from the inside of the third row for the 30 lap final and had to work much harder for his podium finish, patiently displacing Jamie Veal, Luke Oldfield and finally Hobart's Shaun Dobson to grab the runner up spot in the Ayres Racing #USA5W.

Dobson was the class of the Australians, graduating from the bronze shootout right through to second quickest in the Gold, rewarding him with a front row start beside Schatz.

Dobson held his own for three laps before a pass from Luke Oldfield, but then regained his spot until half race distance where Wolfe took over the second position.

Falling back into the clutches of Oldfield, the two traded blows for the remainder of the race swapping between third and fourth six times before Dobson cemented his claim on the final podium position with two laps remaining.

Schatz was never headed for the entire 30 lap journey, claiming America's 20th World Series win at Archerfield, but was just as happy to talk of his Australian holiday in the post-race celebrations.

"This is great, being able to race at night while getting plenty of time at the beach during the day, so we're having a ball and the win tonight just caps it off."

Pennsylvanian Wolfe was quick to congratulate his team, but was philosophical about the runner up result.

"I thought we may have had something for Donny but to come away with second is a good result."

Dobson however was suitably pleased with third, especially after a tough campaign in the latter part of Speedweek.

"Dad and Shane Finch have done a great job with the car and I haven't been in the seat for quite a while, so to be on the podium in this calibre of drivers is great for our confidence and a really great result for our team."

Luke Oldfield held on to fourth despite a final five lap charge from Kerry Madsen who'd advanced from ninth on the grid to fifth, with Logan Schuchart finishing where he started in sixth.

James McFadden got as high as fifth and as low as ninth after a quick pirouette on turn two just after midway in the race, but recovered to finish seventh ahead of Jamie Veal who had dropped from fifth to eighth after multiple battles.

Dave Murcott claimed ninth while Hoosier Hard Charger Carson Macedo moved from sixteenth to round out the top ten.

Kerry Madsen still leads the Championship ahead of McFadden by 85 points, while Jamie Veal has stepped up into the third position a further 305 points behind.

The series now remains in Brisbane and looks ahead to this weekend's 22nd running of the Australian Sprintcar Open where Kerry Madsen will aim to defend his title starting on Friday night for the two-night event.

On another night of incredible racing at Ausdeck Patios Archerfield Speedway, Logan Schuchart raced to his second feature race victory in less than a week when he took out round ten of the East Coast Logistics Sprintcar Track Championship on Monday night (January 1). Starting from pole position in the 35-lap feature event, Schuchart had opened up a considerable buffer until 9th-starting Donny Schatz moved into second spot and chased down his WoO rival. With 10 laps to run, Schatz looked to slice underneath through turn one, only to find himself squeezed for room and pinched into a spin. With Schatz banished to the back, Schuchart was untroubled in leading the field through the final laps. West Australian young gun Kaiden Manders finished in second spot with a third American in Lucas Wolfe storming home to grab the final place on the podium, leaving Mark Pholi as the best of the locals in fourth spot ahead of Allan Woods and a barnstorming Mitchell Gee, who advanced from 19th to sixth with a mighty drive. Andrew Scheuerle snared seventh and Schatz surged back to eighth, with Bryan Mann and Lynton Jeffrey rounding out the top ten.

In the Dirt Modified feature race, five drivers accepted the invitation to start the Paul Britten 44 Memorial from the rear of the field and, of those, it was Jai Stephenson and Mark Robinson who came oh-so-close to pulling off a miraculous win. In the end it was Ray Klarich who stood firm in the face of immense pressure to emerge victorious, with Stephenson snatching second from Robinson on the final lap. Mitchell Randall finished fourth after leading early, with Kevin Britten climbing to fifth ahead of Chris Corbett, Scott Cannon, Ray Eggins, Terry Leerentveld and Zac McDonald. As is the case with this event each season, the race proved a thrilling spectacle as the backmarkers surged their way through the field to chase down the leaders.

In a remarkable form reversal, Steve Greer went from last in the C Main two nights earlier to KRE Quick Time in Sprintcar qualifying, making good use of the best track conditions to stop the clock at 12.650. Occasional racer Steven White was second quickest (12.712) ahead of Andrew Corbet (12.767), Manders (12.896) and Pholi (12.916), with Woods, Cody Maroske, Stewart Craig, Mitch Gowland and Bryan Mann completing the first ten. The best of the Americans was Schuchart with12th overall, just one spot ahead of Schatz and while Wolfe could do no better than 26th, he was in good company with the likes of Scheuerle, Gee, Luke Oldfield, Peter Lack, Brent Kratzmann and fast qualifier from the previous round in Callum Walker all languishing outside the top twenty.

Rain hit the complex prior to the opening round of heats getting underway and after a lengthy delay to get the track back into shape, the decision was made to amend the format to replicate the WoO qualifying system, with each driver to contest one of four heat races from which the first four placegetters would secure a berth in the feature race.

The first of the heats saw Pholi lock himself into the main event when he led home Greer, Schatz and Scheuerle.

Heat two saw Woods prevail in advance of Mann, Wolfe and White, while Peter Lack suffered a setback when he was forced infield on lap two.

Corbet scored his first ever Sprintcar heat win in heat three, outpacing Darren Jensen and Jeffrey, with Brodie Tulloch relegating Maroske on the final lap to secure the all-important fourth spot.

The final heat went to Schuchart ahead of Manders and Oldfield, leaving Stewart Craig to clinch the last direct transfer into the feature race field.

Schuchart followed up to also take out the Dash and secure pole position for the feature race, with Mann, Woods and Manders next in line. Greer finished fifth to secure his best ever feature race starting position, with Pholi, Corbet and Jensen at the back of the pack.

The B main was a humdinger as Lack chased down and relieved Maroske of the lead on lap 11. Having advanced from position 10, Gee looked on track to usurp Maroske from the final transfer spot, only to bring all his hard work undone with a spin in the final turn.

With Gee afforded a discretionary start at the rear, 19 cars hit the track for the feature event and, unfortunately for Jensen, his race would end on the opening lap when a kerfuffle in turn three left him stricken and sent Lack on an end-for-end ride from which he would recover to make the restart, leaving the luckless Jensen as the only non-finisher. Schuchart shot to the front and wasted little time in distancing himself from the field, with Manders slotting into second spot as Mann started a backward trajectory, falling behind Woods, Pholi and Schatz. Woods moved ahead of Manders on lap 15 but both were soon rounded up by Schatz, who was closing in on Schuchart when Oldfield spun in turn four with 11 laps to run. Just one lap into the resumption, Schatz charged underneath Schuchart through turn one but simply ran out of room. With Schatz now at the back, Manders reclaimed the runner-up spot from Woods, who would subsequently lose two more spots courtesy of Pholi and Wolfe. Pholi had no answer to Wolfe's late-race pace and had to settle for fourth, while Gee culminated his barnstorming run with a sixth-place finish ahead of Scheuerle and Schatz, who rounded up 10 cars in as many laps to salvage eighth. Mann and Jeffrey were next in line, followed by Tulloch, White, Maroske, Corbet and Oldfield, with Greer, Craig and Lack at the back of the queue.

Scott Cannon cruised home by more than eight seconds in the opening Dirt Modified heat, downing Jai Stephenson and Scott Quirk. Heat two was a much closer affair as Ray Eggins chased down Kev Stow, with Mitchell Randall third.

McDonald seemingly had heat three in is keeping, only to spin on the final lap to give Paul Booker the win ahead of Victoria's Steve Milthorpe and Robinson, with Leerentveld leading throughout heat four to defeat Stephenson and Cannon.

Enjoying a strong return to racing after an extended absence, Robinson took out heat five from Sam Bruggy and Milthorpe, while the final heat went to Britten over Randall and Dale Corbett.

The Top Six Shootout featured no less than four national championship winners and it was Cannon who proved the best of the bunch in this instance, leading Milthorpe, Stephenson, Robinson, Britten and Eggins to the chequer. After the race, each driver was invited to take the challenge of foregoing their qualifying position to start the feature from the back of the 20-car field and it was only Milthorpe who declined the offer and thereby secured himself pole position.

Not surprisingly, Milthorpe led the feature race field away as the backmarkers set forth on the challenge of carving their way to the front. Randall moved to the front on lap 10, only for Milthorpe to regain the ascendancy after another 10 laps. With 15 laps to go, Milthorpe's reluctance to move from the pole line proved very costly when he tagged the back of a slower car and spun himself out of contention, handing the lead to Klarich, who had advanced from 11th to dispose of Randall a few laps earlier. Robinson had climbed to second at this point and was menacing Klarich with serious intent, but the category stalwart was able to fend off each challenge. Stephenson joined the battle in the closing stages and, quite remarkably, the lead trio exited turn four side-by-side to take the white flag. Klarich held on though to score a memorable win from Stephenson and Robinson. Randall faded as the laps wound down but remained fourth at the chequer ahead of defending race winner Britten. Chris Corbett, Cannon, Eggins, Leerentveld and McDonald rounded out the top ten ahead of Anthony Ashen and Booker, while Milthorpe made little ground from the back to finish 13th ahead of the remaining finishers in Stow, Trevor Wiley and Mark Connolly.

The next event at Ausdeck Patios Archerfield Speedway in round six of World Series Sprintcars on Wednesday night (January 3), also featuring the Polar Ice Midget Track Championship plus Compact Speedcars and Modlites.

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Big Entry Lists For Speedcars and Wingless As Dumesny Clan Join Classic Field

The 2018 South West Conveyancing Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic continues to prove popular amongst Sprintcar competitors from right around the country with entries continuing to flood in.

The trend of entries being strong in numbers is also evident for this coming Sunday nights Open Wheel Mayhem Night as presented by Chittick’s Bakery with 69 Wingless Sprint teams entered for a round of their Victorian Series, while extremely healthy Speedcar number has 30 plus cars set to contest their Victorian Championship on the same program.

The Formula 500’s will also be on track in a different format, which not only condenses their schedule but adds an exciting element to the event.All told well over 100 cars will compete at Sungold Stadium, this Sunday night, with gates set to open at 4pm with cars on track from 5pm.

For pricing and ticketing information please see www.premierspeedway.com.au

The 2018 46th edition of the South West Conveyancing Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic which will be supported by Performance Racegear, KRE Race Engines, The Lady Bay Resort and KFC, continues to grow, with many drivers signaling their intention to compete.

Headlining the latest group of entrants is Max, Matt and Marcus Dumesny.

Three time (1992, 1994 and 2004) Classic Champion Max, will be a crowd favorite as he pilots the distinctive V5 Valvoline Maxim with support from GKR Transport, Red Ed’s Sheds, PWR and Blackshaw’s.

Continuing the Dumesny legacy at the Classic, will be Matt and Marcus with both young guns qualifying for the B-main portion of the 2017 Classic with Matt scored as 9th in B-Main 1, while Marcus impressed many good judges again with a 14th place finish in B-Main 2.

Another of the talented Sydneysiders to make the pilgrimage to the Classic will be Jackson Delamont, the likeable grandson of the Legendary “Mad” Harry Delamont.

West Australian Daniel Harding will again return to Premier Speedway aboard his HRP Specialties, Jolly Good Auto Electrics Kistler powered Maxim for another shot at the Classic.

Harding finished 10th in B-Main 1 in 2017 and would dearly love to be a amongst the top 24 cars come A-Main time on the Sunday of the Classic.

A pair of Queenslanders will also make the trek south, with neither having contested the Classic in 2017.

Steve Rowell will join his fellow Queenslander in the field for the Classic, with KRE providing the horsepower for the Q6 Maxim.

Rowell will be campaigning for his loyal band of supporters including Pacific Petroleum, Advanced Technology Grease, Valvoline, Carrols Tyres, Haulmax, Fleet Imaging and Rowell Logistics.

Rounding out the latest batch of entrants is a quintet of Victorians, with Charles Hunter set to try and recapture the excellent run he experienced during the 2017 Classic which saw him finish a very impressive 7th in B-Main in his family backed V73 entry.

The experienced Peter Milnes will also be back at the Classic, running the Upack Removals and Moving Containers backed V51 Cool.

Milnes finished 9th in C-Main 1 in 2017 and will be joined in the Classic field by David McKay who is another of the Eureka Sprintcar Series regulars. McKay didn’t contest the Classic in 2017.

Warrnambool’s Flying Plumber Robbie Paton is another of the local entrants aiming for a strong performance over the three nights of Classic competition.

Jamie Heyen is also nominated for the Classic weekend.

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EGEL HOLDS OFF MADSEN FOR AVALON WIN

Matt Egle Does The Wing Dance Saturday Night at Avalon!

South Australian Matt Egel has claimed his second career QSS World Series Sprintcars win with an impressive victory over Kerry Madsen and James McFadden at Avalon Raceway, Victoria.

Egel clawed his way back from time trialling 7th in his flight, but moved forward 5 positions in his heats to make the seventh spot in the Top 8 Shootout, and then timed quickest in all three stages to claim pole position for the A-Main.

Despite a great start however, Egel was constantly under threat, with McFadden passing Madsen on the first turn of lap 11 and then Egel in the following straight, before the caution lights illuminated for a spin from Brock Hallett in turn three, allowing Egel to return to the front for the restart.

The stoppage would become a curse for McFadden who would never get within striking distance again of the lead pair, as the track rubbered down into a single lane contest.

A front straight collision between Shaun Dobson and Brayden Parr with only three laps remaining was the only other incident in the race, and provided some hope to Madsen of a chance to outplay Egel on the restart. The reigning Australian Champion came close on the second last rotation, however Egel never faltered and held on for a landmark win.

"This is huge for me and the Downing Brothers. They work so hard and I just had to make sure I didn't make a mistake because I knew that Kerry and James would jump on it straight away," Egel said, elated with the win.

Kerry Madsen praised Egel's efforts, revealing that all he could do was wait for him to make a mistake to have any chance of getting past.

"He's a great driver and if he even slipped up once I was going to the stick it in there, but he was too smooth tonight and I'm really rapt for the Downing Brothers, because they work so hard and this win is fully deserved.

Egel's $10,000 win was the first WSS win for the Downing Brothers, and now places him third in the KRE Speedweek points table on 1038 points, with James McFadden leading on 1172 points ahead of Kerry Madsen on 1129.

The QSS World Series Sprintcars tour moves onto Warrnambool's Sungold Stadium on January 1st for the Grand Final of KRE Speedweek, before heading north to Brisbane's Archerfield Speedway on Wednesday night for the "Sunshine Swing" that also includes the $20,000 to win Australian Sprintcar Open on the following Friday and Saturday.

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Schatz Beats Rain and the Rest, Pascoe Wins Again

Archerfield Speedway Media Release

Donny Schatz in action at BIS. Photo Copyright Chirs Metcalf

On a night that saw some tweaking to the race format in an effort to stay ahead of impending rain that was moving towards the venue, World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz was unstoppable in the 35-lap Sprintcar feature race at Ausdeck patios Archerfield Speedway on Saturday night (December 30), leading home Andrew Scheuerle and Brent Kratzmann to win round nine of the East Coast Logistics Track Championship. Scheuerle led the opening moments of the race after qualifying on pole position, but he was unable to counter when Schatz slipped underneath through turn two on lap five to take control.

In round three of the Super Sedan Summer Slam, Queensland champion Matt Pascoe continued his remarkable run of success this season to secure his second feature race win in 24 hours and his fifth for the season. Whilst Pascoe faced little resistance in leading all 40 laps, the action behind was intense from the outset with Sean Black and Jarrod Harper embroiled in a great scrap for the minor placings that ultimately saw Black prevail as Harper found himself edged out of third by Darren Kane in a frantic finish.

With rain forecast for later in the evening, promoter John Kelly opted for a change of format akin to the model used on the World of Outlaws tour whereby each driver contests one heat race, with the first four finishers in each heat transferring into the feature race field, the rest left to traverse the B and C Mains to secure their spot. The move proved a masterstroke and saw the completion of the race meeting before 9.30pm.

As always, time trial qualifying got things underway and, in stark contrast to the setbacks he endured at this point in proceedings just two nights earlier, it was Callum Walker (11.930) who emerged with KRE Fast Time, the only driver to go under 12 seconds. Scheuerle (12.093) and Kratzmann (12.131) were next quickest, followed by the American trio of Lucas Wolfe (12.157), Logan Schuchart (12.181) and Schatz (12.185).

The opening heat saw Luke Oldfield advance from position three to assume the lead on lap six, leading home Walker, Mark Pholi and Paul Rooks.

With Scheuerle taking out heat two from the front row, Schatz slotted into second spot and remained there to the chequer, with Jayden Peacock and Cody Maroske also booking a spot in the big show.

Kratzmann cruised home to win heat three in advance of Peter Lack, Allan Woods and Steven Rowell.

Wolfe enjoyed a inauspicious start to his Australian campaign when he was penalised for jumping the start in heat four, gifting US-based Lynton Jeffrey pole position. In his first race at Archerfield, Jeffrey took maximum advantage of his good fortune to lead home Brock Dean, Wolfe and Kaiden Manders.

Bryan Zelinski downed Adam Butler and Mitch Gowland in the C Main, while Dave Whell was untroubled in winning the B Main. In what was perhaps the drive of the night, Darren Jensen stormed from deep in the field to snatch the final transfer into the feature with a thrilling last gasp lunge under Dylan Menz.

Scheuerle got the initial jump to get the feature race underway, only for the race to be halted when Walker, who had been bounced around like a pinball in the first turn, found himself stranded in the same spot a lap later. Upon resumption, Scheuerle led away again from Schatz and the two leaders ran together – Scheuerle sitting mid-track and Schatz higher still – until the latter made his move with an inside run through turn two that took him to the front. Once in control, Schatz was unstoppable and only saw his lead diminish courtesy of restarts, the first of which came when Oldfield and Jeffrey tangled in a dispute over fourth spot. With Jeffrey out and Oldfield banished to the back, Kratzmann moved to third and held it to the end. In the wake of his B Main heroics, Jensen was on the charge again and had climbed into the top ten from 18th when contact with Peacock ended his run and halted proceedings. When Manders flipped out in turn one with just two laps to go, the race was declared with Schatz the winner from Scheuerle, Kratzmann, Lack, Wolfe and Woods, with Pholi, Dean, a recovering Oldfield and Walker rounding out the top ten ahead of Steve Rowell.

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International Sprintcar Action Continues on Saturday

Archerfield Speedway Media Release

It is hard to imagine that anybody who witnessed the spectacle of USA stars Logan Schuchart and Donny Schatz duking it out at Ausdeck Patios Archerfield Speedway on Thursday night won't be returning on Saturday night (December 30) when the duo are joined by a third highly-credentialed American in Lucas Wolfe for round nine of the East Coast Logistics Sprintcar Track Championship. In a terrific drive, Schuchart chased down Schatz to score his first feature race win in Australia in front of a big Brisbane crowd and the challenge for the locals lies in trying to prevent a clean sweep of the podium by the international trio. In addition to a stellar 40-plus field of Sprintcars, the night will also feature round three of the Super Sedan Summer Slam Tour that has attracted drivers from every Australian state, including five Australian championship winners. With Lightning Sprints, AMCA Nationals and Ford vs Holden vs Sigma sedans also on the program, a veritable feast of speedway action will be served up on Saturday night.

On Thursday, Luke Oldfield, Mark Pholi, Peter Lack and Bryan Mann were the locals who stood tallest in the face of the international challenge, with Oldfield advancing into third place in the feature race to join the two Americans on the podium. Lack surged late to finish fourth, Pholi started the night strongly by setting fast time in qualifying and then maintained his form throughout the night to finish fifth in the feature, while Mann looked on target for a podium result in his first Archerfield outing for the season, before fading in the latter stages to sit sixth when the chequer appeared. Other standouts on the night were Brent Kratzmann, Callum Walker and Andrew Scheurele, although all three would ultimately finish the feature race on the infield, a circumstance that will no doubt serve as motivation for redemption this weekend. West Aussie youngster Kaiden Manders showed glimpses of the form that has carried him to considerable success in his home state and he will be looking to leave a bigger impression on Saturday, while US-based Australian Lynton Jeffery is also amongst 37 competitors who have nominated for a shot at upstaging the Americans.

Tickets can be purchased in advance from the track website – www.brisbanespeedway.com.au – with online ticketholders securing early entry to the grounds from 3.30pm. Early racing gets underway from 5.00pm, with Sprintcar time trials slated for 5.30pm and the main program to kick off at 6.00pm.

Kerry Madsen added another $10k pay day to this week's prizemoney tally with a dominant win at Mount Gambier's Borderline Speedway.

The reigning Australian Champion timed third quickest in qualifying behind Ryan Jones and Jamie Veal, and was eligible for the Top 8 bronze shootout after finishing both heats.

He advanced from the Bronze with the quickest lap, and carried the form on the Silver and Gold Shootouts to steal pole position from James McFadden, Darren Mollenoyux and Jamie Veal.

The start of the A Main was halted by early spins from Dave Murcott and Brad Keller before Madsen and Mollenoyux came together on the restart, with Madsen's right rear tyre dislodging Mollenoyux's front axle, sending him careering across the track and into the path of Jamie Veal.

Veal restarted but Mollenoyux's night was over, and the passionate #V52 pilot certainly made it clear to Madsen of his distaste with the move, however an unfazed Madsen continued his domination through to the chequered flag, with James McFadden held at bay from start to finish to take second, and Lemoore, Californian Carson Macedo in third after starting 20th in his best showing this season.

The race as littered with incidents with Jamie Veal retiring infield with a steering issue and Keller, Harding, Egel and Scelzi all falling victim to an uncharacteristic spin from Jason Johnson that left the surrounding racers with nowhere to go.

Tim Van Ginneken showed good speed early and may have had a challenge for James McFadden, however an unknown breakage sent the #V36 hard in to the turn 2 wall and ending his night.

Post-race, Madsen offered an apology to Mollenoyux in his victory speech, unsure of whether it was his fault or a simple "racing incident," but then chose to focus on his crew who had worked tirelessly to retrieve the team's spare car from Warrnambool over night after the Murray Bridge incident that left him hanging off the fence.

McFadden was philosophical about his runner up result, but conceded that was very little he could do but try and stay as close as possible to the back of the #A1.

Macedo however was elated, claiming the Hoosier Hard Charger Award with his 16 car passing haul, proudly displaying the talent that won him the King of the West Series in 2015 in his native California.

The tour receives a well earned break today before embarking on Avalon Raceway In Lara, Victoria for the fourth round of the tournament.

A controversial incident between reigning Australian Sprintcar Champion Kerry Madsen and Victorian hotshot Tim Van Ginneken has brought a premature end to the A Main at the second round of QSS World Series Sprintcars at Murray Bridge, South Australia.

James McFadden claimed a convincing win over Louisianan Jason Johnson and Matt Egel after the race was declared with just 3 laps remaining, with the clash between Van Ginneken and Madsen leaving the Australia #1 car tangled in the catch fence in turn one.

Madsen had driven from 15th after coming from the B Main all the way to battle for 5th with Van Ginneken who had gradually slipped back after leading the first 12 laps from his front row start alongside McFadden.

At lap 32 however, Madsen drove around the V36 and tucked into turn one to close the door, however Van Ginneken fought to keep the position, making heavy contact and catapulting the A1 high into the catch fence and tangled in the mesh.

Madsen was quick to loosen his belts despite the car hanging off the fence, and wasted no time in exploding his frustrations on Van Ginneken as soon as was released from the wreckage.

"That's the stupidest move I've ever seen at a speedway," Madsen said, restraining himself from boiling over on the microphone, however TVG seemed unperturbed by his remonstrations.

"It's not like Kerry's never done that to anybody is it?" he responded, "so I'm certainly not going to lose any sleep over it."

The controversy somewhat stole the limelight from a phenomenal race, with a track that became racey just at the right time of the night after being very heavy from an unexpected shower at the start of the evening.

"I wasn't sure were going to get a racetrack like that after what it was like at the start, but hats off to the track crew because that was great fun," a jubilant McFadden said after starting the night with Revolution Racegear Quicktime after a last-minute gear change by the crew on the infield to achieve some higher RPM.

Johnson was equally happy with his runner up result, taking him to the KRE Speedweek and WSS Championship points chase lead on 580 points, just four ahead of McFadden and Matt Egel on 557 points in third.

Jamie Veal was unable to take the start in the Krikke Motorsport TEH #2 with electrical issues taking the former champion to the infield before a lap had been turned.

The series heads to Mount Gambier's Borderline speedway tonight for round three before a day off prior to round four at Avalon on December 30.

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MR MODIFIED SERIES DATES CHANGED AFTER WASH OUT

BY DENNIS NEWLYN

THE Boxing Day wash out at Castrol Edge Lismore Speedway has resulted in a reshuffle of dates for the Mr Modified series.

The December 26 fixture was scheduled to be the opening round of the annual series however that meeting will now be transferred to January 6 for the first of two scheduled rounds to decide the annual tournament for V8 Dirt Modifieds.

Promoter David Lander is working the calendar to determine when he can run the final and deciding round.

The only viable date during the January high time of the season will be Saturday, January 27, which was set in place at the start of the season as a race night for V8 Dirt Modifieds.

The event was originally intended to be the running of the Summer Classic, however Lander has indicated the Summer Classic event will now become round two of the Mr Modified series.

“That in all probability will be how the calendar now looks after the December 26 washed out meeting,” David explained. “I am also looking at that Australia Day long weekend and moving the date of the annual 100 lap Australian Wingless Sprint Grand Prix.”

The annual Boxing Night spectacular was hit by late afternoon rain after clear skies for most of the day. A rain cell, that had hovered off Grafton for most of the day and appeared destined to head out to sea, changed direction mid afternoon and swept across Lismore early evening as the inclement weather brought with it heavy rain.

It was a bitter blow as the first round of the Mr Modified series was expected to be one of the best in the event's more recent history. Race officials received an entry list of over 30 cars with almost all of the big names on hand for the annual opening round. The defending Mr Modified Champion is Andrew Pezzutti.

Meanwhile, Lander also has added a couple of family entertainment attractions to his Lismore season schedule.

The spectacular flame-throwing jet car will make an appearance at the Lismore Showground Speedway venue on March 17, while the FMX high flying bikes will do their stunts on March 3 which will also feature a round of the Diamond Air Speedcar Super series.

A highlight of the congested January fixture scheduled will be the $2000-to-win Demolition Derby at Castrol Edge Lismore Speedway on January 13.

It is one of the biggest paying demolition derbies ever held in Australian speedway history and entries are still being accepted for the event.

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As World Series Approaches, More Classic Entries Roll In

With less than a week now until Round 5 of World Series Sprintcars rolls into Sungold Stadium, Premier Speedway, Warrnambool, a number of the World Series teams have joined the rapidly growing list of entrants for January’s South West Conveyancing Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic.

World Series 2017-18 contracted driver Darren Mollenoyux has hit the road in his familiar Warrnambool Crane Hire backed V52, essentially with the same machinery and crew that saw him finish a gallant second behind James McFadden in the 2017 Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic.

However, in a case of success breeding opportunity, Mollenoyux has been signed as the hired gun for the West Australian based Cowara Motorsport team, with the schedule to include several of the East Coasts major events including the Classic from January 19 to 21, 2018.

Another of the drivers to have qualified for the 2017 Classic A-Main was David Murcott, and like Mollenoyux, Murcott will find himself contesting the entire World Series Sprintcars schedule for car owner Mathew Eastham before competing in the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic for his car owner of the past few seasons Dave Horrell.

Murcott was on the pace in 2017, eventually finishing tenth in the 40-lap Sunday night Classic finale.

In 2018, he will again be on the pace with Inglis Race Engines providing the horsepower for the teams Maxim Chassis.

Long time Horrell Motorsport supporters including Mainline Dynalog Dynamometers, East Coast Logistics, Inglis race Engines, Oval Express Magazine, Vortex Express and Dryden Signs will again be right behind Murcott and the team, which in a recent development has grown to include Steven Lines who will now also contest the Classic under the Horrell Motorsport banner, in the newly re-badged NQ3 entry.

In one of the more opportunistic car-owner – driver combinations, 23-year-old American Lawrance Kirkham will team with Victorian based car owner Kevin Reeves for a first up attempt at the Classic.

Kirkham who hails from Stanwood in the state of Washington in the far North West of the country, plies his craft predominantly at Skagit Speedway which is only a short drive from his home. He has one feature race win at Skagit, which came on September 3, 2015.

It is here that he races predominantly in 360 Sprintcar competition, while also being a very accomplished karter as well, competing in indoor dirt karts with some considerable success during the off-season.

For his first trip to Australia, the team is the first to admit that they have no expectations as to how they will go, although it wouldn’t surprise to see Kirkham bob up with a strong performance for his sponsors Truck Bras, KPro Auto, Action RV and The Coffee Barn.

The Titan Garages and Carports, ARD Doors, OvenU and Torco Oils Q36 has been a regular part of the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic with some of the sports great names such as Daryn Pittman and Robbie Farr all producing strong results for car owner Reeve Kruck.

For the 2018 Classic, Mitchell Gee will return to Warrnambool and aim to break into the top 24 drivers who will contest the Sunday night final. In 2017 Gee was officially credited with a 13th place finish in B-Main 2.

Like Murcott and Mollenoyux, World Series Sprintcars is currently on the agenda for another of the West Australian based drivers in Jason Pryde.

Pryde is growing in experience and confidence with every race and despite enduring a horror run at the 2017 Classic, he will be looking to log as many laps as he can during World Series Sprintcars, especially Round 5 on January 1st at Sungold Stadium as he prepares for the Classic some three weeks later.

For his trip across the Nullabor and up and down the East Coast of Australia Jason Pryde will be supported by Austwide Communications, IBRP, Industor, AMPT Services, Scardifelds Smash Repairs, MM Electrical, Suncity Plumbing, Miniquip and Grays Online.

Tickets for both January 1 being round 5 of the World Series Sprintcars tournament and the South West Conveyancing Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic from January 19 to 21, 2018 are also available on-line via www.premierspeedway.com.au or at the gate on race day.

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MADSEN WINS A THRILLER AT THE BRIDGE

Reigning Australian Sprintcar Champion Kerry Madsen has claimed a $10,000 purse in a thriller at Murray Machining and Sheds Speedway, Murray Bridge for the opening round of QSS World Series Sprintcars for 2017-18.

Madsen qualified 8th quick in his flight in the 45-car field, while South Australian stalwart Jamie Cobby claimed Revolution Racegear Quicktime overall but was let down by a collection of incidents in heat races relegating him to a fourth row start in the Main.

Louisiana's Jason Johnson started from pole sharing the front row with Matt Egel, with impressive local Ryan Jones and Warrnambool young gun Jye O'Keeffe on the second row.

However, O'Keeffe ended his campaign in the first turn, catching the wall and rolling over, before Aidan Hall made a similar mistake in the same spot six laps later with 34 laps remaining.

Jones was relentless in his pursuit of Johnson, while Madsen was needling away from his third-row start, dicing with Jamie Veal and Luke Dillon before finding some grip low on the exit of turn four and shooting to the front.

James McFadden was aggressively charging forward from his 11th starting spot, finally boiling over at the half way mark when he and Veal came together in turn one, with both spinning, but only McFadden able to keep his engine alive.

Veal unceremoniously restarted from the rear of field, and as the track began to lightly take rubber, he fell into the clutches of Madsen who ironically met him in lapped traffic with only a handful of laps remaining.

In the meantime, Ryan Jones had outsmarted Jason Johnson to take over second while Johnson held on to third, Matt Egel fourth and James McFadden rounding the top five.

"That was a great racetrack," Madsen said in Victory Lane, "and it was just a case of trying to find what moisture was out there, and we just struck it at the right times."

Jones echoed thoughts, but was torn between being disappointed with second and jubilant of a podium finish.

"Without being cocky, we came in confident, so to not quite get there is disappointing, but when you consider the calibre of this field, we'll take second!"

Johnson labelled the race track as "a dream come true," claiming that "riding the cushion in three and four was great fun, but we just didn't have the speed to keep up with those boys, but this a great way to start the week."

Cory Eliason claimed the Hoosier Hard Charger award, driving from 16th to 9th in the USA00 Devil Race Karts entry, while fellow Americans, Carson Macedo crashed out of the B Main and Dom Scelzi retired earlier in the night with a broken rear end that led to further issues.

The 31st World Series continues tonight at the same venue for night two of KRE Speedweek with another $10k on offer for the winner.

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Round Eight Delayed by Rain

Archerfield Speedway Media Release

By Chris Metcalf The annual Boxing Night action-fest at Ausdeck Patios Archerfield Speedway featuring American stars Donny Schatz and Logan Schuchart contesting round ** of the East Coast Logistics Sprintcar Track Championship has been temporarily curtailed by inclement weather, with rain sweeping across the venue before the completion of Sprintcar time trials. The event, which will also feature the opening round of the Ian Boettcher Race Parts Formula 500 Stampede, round four of the Modlite Pro Series and Compact Speedcars plus Monster Trucks and Fireworks has been rescheduled for this Thursday night (December 28).

On a track that had already endured significant rainfall overnight, the deluge that hit the circuit with just three events completed made it impossible for track promoter John Kelly to salvage a satisfactory racing surface and the postponement comes on the back of several other events already this season that have fallen victim to rainy conditions.

In the events that were completed, Sam Gollschewsky and Klinton Hancey collected Modlite heat wins before Nathan Pronger prevailed in the opening Formula 500 event.

It was during Sprintcar time trials when the rain began with two groups of drivers unable to complete their run against the clock. Running in the first group, Schatz received a warm reception from the crowd when he hit the track for his timed session in a continuation of the great support he enjoys from local fans.

For event updates and information, head to the track website at www.brisbanespeedway.com.au or follow Archerfield Speedway on Facebook.

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Big Names, Big Fields for Boxing Day in Brisbane

Archerfield Speedway Media Release

Donny Schatz ready for action at Brisbane. Chris Metcalf Photo

By Chris Metcalf

The biggest name in the Sprintcar game headlines a stellar line-up of more than 100 competitor nominations for the annual Boxing Day blockbuster at Ausdeck Patios Archerfield Speedway on Tuesday night (December 26). Yep, none other than current and 9-time World of Outlaws Sprintcar champion Donny Schatz returns to Brisbane for another exclusive Archerfield campaign to take on more than 35 other drivers in round eight of the East Coast Logistics Sprintcar Track Championship. Schatz will be joined by fellow WoO ace Logan Schuchart, who is undertaking his second racing campaign in Australia, with Compact Speedcars, Modlites and Formula 500s also on the program, plus Monster Trucks and a spectacular fireworks show.

In addition to clinching his ninth WoO Championship in America this year, Schatz also won the famed Knoxville Nationals for the 10th time and clinched his fourth victory in the King's Royal, becoming the only driver to win the race in consecutive years. Schuchart also arrives in Australia on the back of some strong WoO form, winning four series rounds and finishing ninth overall in the championship standings. The American duo will face off against a collective of in-form locals comprising Luke Oldfield, Mitchell Gee, Callum Walker, Andrew Scheuerle, Peter Lack and Allan Woods plus another 30 drivers desperate to make their mark and upstage the world champion. Former track titleholder Bryan Mann and current Australian Dirt Modified champion Kevin Britten make their first appearance for the season, the likes of Ben Hilder and Brent Kratzmann have produced plenty of speed so far this season without yet breaking through to secure a podium result and WA young gun Kaiden Manders is a real threat to the locals and internationals alike.

In addition to the racing action, the Boxing Night spectacular will also feature Monster Trucks and Fireworks, with children aged 12 years or under admitted free when accompanied by an adult. Tickets can be purchased in advance from the track website – www.brisbanespeedway.com.au – with online ticketholders securing early entry to the grounds from 3.30pm.

The Eureka Garages & Sheds Sprintcar Series will finish the year 2017 off with a double header for rounds seven and eight, on Tuesday the twenty sixth where Avalon Raceway will present round seven of the Series then the next night Wednesday the twenty seventh the Series heads to Simpson Speedway with strong fields for both rounds.

These two rounds are important to the regular Eureka Series drivers that will see valuable points gained heading into 2018 rounds of the Series giving a clearer picture of the drivers’ standings as some of the drivers that have been a part of the Eureka Series so far head off to race at other major events around the country at this time of the season.

Current Eureka Garages & Sheds Series point’s leader Rusty Hickman will lead the charge for these events along with Tim Hutchins who is sitting in second place from the current Eureka Series champion Brett Milburn. While both Brett and Tim have been Eureka Series round feature winners Rusty is yet to claim his first round win but consistent top placing’s in the rounds conducted so far have him at the top of the table.

Corey McCullagh took his fist round win at Simpson last season and this season his has been performing very well with a few podium finished in some event, Corey will be hard to beat at both of these rounds.

Past Victorian Title Champion Tim Rankin is in with a chance of another Eureka Series round win and a trouble free run will make him a major player at both rounds as well.

The battle off the regular Series drivers that are in the top twenty, the likes of Jacob Smith, Charles Hunter, Jordyn Charge, Dennis Jones, Brayden Parr and Sam Wren will be very interesting as the speed and performances from these drivers so far this season could see any of them pick up a podium place at one of these rounds.

Luke Walkers returned to sprintcar racing this season after missing most of last season due to injury, Luke has been quickly back up to speed and that shows he is going to be on the money in these events.

One of the crowd favourites and five time Eureka Garages & Sheds Sprintcar Series Champion John Vogels had a late start to this season, John is enters for both rounds and it is not out of the question to take a win or podium places.

Two drivers nominated for both events that could nearly call Simpson Speedway their home track are Grant Stansfield and Rhys Baxter, both drivers are rookies in sprintcar racing this season but there performances have been nothing short of sensational so a little home track advantage may be helpful.

Regular Series racers Fast Eddie Lumbar and his mate David Aldersley will continue their quest to try and beat each other at each round for bragging rights while also tryiny to be competitive at each round looking to make the Eureka A Main events and with finishes near the pointy end of the field.

Peter Doukas a Eureka round feature winner at Avalon will be in the field for the Avalon round only, joining him for this round only will be Brad Warren, David McKay and Adam King.

Lady Racers Georgia McLeod and Rhiannon Burleigh will be in action at Avalon Raceway, Kristy Ellis is nominates for both rounds and will be joined at Simpson by Jessica Moulden.

Some of the other drivers nominated for both rounds are Rod Matthews, Daniel Newnham, Bobby Daly, Steven Spark and Michael Tancredi.

Once again to pick the feature winners at these rounds would be a big call but one thing is assured there will be two nights of great Sprintcar action in the Eureka Garages & Sheds Sprintcar Series to finish out 2017 before heading into the 2018 part of the racing season.

Eureka Garages and Sheds Sprintcar Series at Avalon Raceway on Tuesday night the 26th of December then Simpson Speedway for Wednesday the 27th of December for round eight.

The seemingly almost daily update on entrants for the South West Conveyancing Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic continues with three more drivers coming on board and committing to making the pilgrimage to Sungold Stadium, Premier Speedway, Warrnambool from January 19 to 21.

South Australian young gun Jake Tranter will be at the wheel of his familiar S45 Maxwill. After failing to make his way into the feature events at the 2017 Classic last January Tranter has already shown this season that he is ready to make some giant in-roads at the 46th edition Classic.

Former World Series Sprintcars Contracted Driver and another of the strong South Aussie Posse, Ricky Maiolo will also be out to right some wrongs from the 2017 Classic.

The popular Maiolo managed to bring his S24 entry home in 7th place in C-Main 2 in 2017, so a stronger performance can be expected with the support of TRG Transport, Oval Track Imports, M.A.N and Active Motor Wreckers.

The final for today, taking the list of current entrants to 59, is Queensland’s Andrew Corbet.

Corbet will make his debut South West Conveyancing Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic appearance.

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Young Gun Kofoid Adds More American Flavour To The Classic

Hailing from Penngrove California, Michael “Buddy” Kofoid may have only just turn 16, rendering him eligible to race a Sprintcar in Australia, but his addition to the entry list for the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic from January 19 to 21 is certainly exciting.

Having already raced for 11 years and first practicing in a 360 Sprintcar at the age of 9, Kofoid has drawn comparisons to his fellow Californian’s Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell after becoming the youngest winner of the Johnny Key Classic at Ocean Speedway when he outlasted Andy Forsberg to take the 50-lap feature event.

Over the past couple of seasons respected Sydney based car owner Peter Gordon has worked closely with Buddy and his family and is now faced with the exciting prospect of bringing Kofoid to Australia for whirlwind month of racing which includes the 46th South West Conveyancing Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic.

For his visit to Australia Kofoid will be in familiar equipment with his own Maxim Chassis and Don Ott Racing prepared engine set to provide him with a competitive and comfortable car right out of the box.

The team will be supported by his American based car owner Gary Silva and Gary Silva Ranches, Essential Fabrication and Maintenance, Eliminator Race Wings, The Sign Centre and Blackshaw’s.

Joining Buddy Kofoid in another healthy batch of entries is West Australian Taylor Milling.

Milling who is no stranger to Sungold Stadium, having competed in Warrnambool for many seasons and will return aboard the familiar Totally Work Wear Midland and Vic Park backed, KRE Race Engines powered Maxim with further support coming from Westralian Diamond Drillers.

Milling finished with a 5th place run in C-Main 1 at the 2017 Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic.

Tasmania’s Tim Hutchins is always an exciting prospect on the track and being another of the competitors to finish his Classic campaign in the C-Main in 2017, he will be looking to improve significantly on that result, especially given his strong early season form at Sungold Stadium.

Hutchins will be at the wheel of his T7 Cool Chassis, with Inglis race Engines providing the horsepower as he looks for a strong result for his partners GBE Maintenance and Warrnambool Locksmith’s.

Another of the South Australian competitors set to join the Classic line-up is Keke Falland.

Falland drives the S78 Cool with the unique Ford Roush Yates 410 beneath the hood and having missed the 2017 Classic will be looking for a strong run for his long list of supporters including Shadetec, Ronco Motors, New Holland, Rivergraphics, Cool Chassis, Loxton Pizza Bar, Riverland Ford, Castrol, Ken’s Exhaust, Ruston Engineering and Steven Falland Electrical.

A trio of Classic Rookies rounds out the latest batch of entrants with Tasmania’s Jock Goodyer set to take the wheel of the D & B Goodyer Developments, DM Tiling T22 Maxim, James Inglis aboard the Holdfast, MechTech, Curtis Electrical, Waterboy, F45 Lockburn, LJS Equipment and Scardifield’s Smash Repairs W80 entry and De Paoli in the National Lubrication and Hydraulic Systems W96 J&J will all make their Classic debuts.

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FARR GETS THE POWER AT TOOWOOMBA

Robbie Farr has finally etched his name on the Will Power 500 trophy in sensational fashion at Hi-Tec Oils Speedway's Ultimate Pink Night after the race has eluded him in the past two years.

Farr started from pole after scoring Quicktime at the start of the evening and encountered some awesome battles in heat races, particularly with Mark Pholi who beat the reigning USC Champion after dicing for the whole ten laps.

Farr's start from pole in the feature was quickly undermined by a super-impressive Andrew Wright who led from the start, with Farr trying every angle to pass, before Brett Minett and Dylan Menz came together to bring on the caution lights.

A few more stops and starts hampered the restart before Jayden Peacock and Mitchell Gee spun in separate incidents with 15 laps remaining. The stoppages were perfect for Luke Oldfield who was carving his way from sixth and had made it within striking distance of Farr after displacing Wright earlier.

The desperation boiled over for Oldfield however as he was reining in the leader, clouting the back straight wall with just two laps remaining and foiling any chance of stealing the lead.

Farr claimed the win with Oldfield hanging on for second and Andrew Wright a gallant third, with hometown hero, Peter Lack just off the podium in fourth and Allan Woods rounding out the top five.

The Wingless Sprints were outstanding in a stoppage-free feature race that produced a podium of David Eggins, Glenn Wright and Rob Mazzer who topped a class field from flag to flag.

Almost three thousand dollars was raised for Breast Cancer research on the night in an outstanding community event that is growing every year in its quest to "Race for a Cure."

Toowoomba's Best Family Night Out will host New Years Speed on December 31 featuring, Freestyle Motocross, Fireworks, a Demo Derby and over 40 of Australia's best Super Sedans in the Super Sedan Summer Slam.

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Molly to the Max at Sungold Stadium

Warrnambool’s Darren Mollenoyux continued his recent run of outstanding results at Sungold Stadium, Premier Speedway, Warrnambool when he mastered the field and a racy Premier Speedway surface to walk away with the silverware and a $5,000.00 with thanks to South West Conveyancing.

After pole-sitter Kerry Madsen set the early pace, ahead of a hard charging pack including Mollenoyux, Brad Keller, two-time and defending Max’s Race Champion Jamie Veal and James McFadden it would be Mollenoyux who would stand best the field after taking the lead on lap six and never looking back.

Jamie Veal, hot on the heels of a win at the Perth Motorplex last Saturday night, showed once again that it will take no time to gel with his Krikke Motorsport outfit with yet another strong run for second, while Kerry Madsen displayed his world class talents ahead of what promises to be a fruitful Speedweek campaign before setting his sights on defending his National Crown.

The top three were followed by the always exciting James McFadden who again drove the wheels off the Monte Motorsport W17 car for fourth while Grant Anderson was again stout in fifth.

The top ten was completed by Carson Macedo (6th), who was making his 2017-18 Australian season debut for car owner Sean Dyson, Brad Keller (7th), Cory Eliason (8th), Corey McCullagh (9th) and Luke Walker (10th).

Those unfortunate enough not to complete the 35-lap journey were Lachlan McHugh, David Murcott, Matthew Dumesny, Aidan Hall, John Vogels, Jake Smith and Shaun Dobson.

The Late Models, once again showed their liking for the Premier Speedway circuit putting on some fantastic racing in support of Max’s Race.

Their feature was taken out by Ryan Alexander who was super impressive all over the track, while Cameron Pearson was another to impress in the V10 car in second place while rounding out the podium was Steve Vaughan in the S67 entry.

The next meeting at Sungold Stadium, Premier Speedway, Warrnambool will be Round 5 of World Series Sprintcars on Monday January 1, 2018, which will feature an exciting line-up of World Series contracted drivers who will again take on the likes of Kerry Madsen, Cory Eliason and a host of stars.

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TAKE TWO: SPRINTCARS TO DUKE IT OUT AT SPEEDWAY WANGARATTA THIS SATURDAY

By Dean Thompson

After a rain out cancellation a couple weeks ago, Speedway Wangaratta is ready to kick off its season with the Allstar Sprintcar show this Saturday night December the 16th and if the sound of big ground pounding Sprintcars wasn’t enough to encourage fans to put an X on the fridge calendar, then finishing the night with a Demolition Derby should!

That’s right, Sprintcars and a Demolition Derby this Saturday night at Speedway Wangaratta.

The All Star Sprintcar series hits town with twenty plus entrants from South Australia, Victoria and Canberra, a field that includes a former Australian Champion Tony Moule and no less than four former series champions including last year’s winner Chris Solomon along with Brenten Farrer, Mark Caruso from South Australia and Paul Solomon.

With the Victorian Sprintcar Association setting record times the last two seasons, expect the 360 variety of the division to do the same right from the start of the night. Picking a winner is tough in this one.

Ending the show will be the ever popular Demolition Derby, with cars crashing and bashing each other into submission to end the show! Demolition Derby’s are always a favourite of the fans and the crowd should be massive this weekend.

Compact Speedcar action will be fast and furious, the little pocket rockets are quite competitive at the moment with a number of racers capable of a win. The Hutchinson boys, Jamie Paull, Louis Rodriguez, Mark Cecil, Keith Astrella whose been racing Speedcars the big brother of Compacts, Jason Crawford whose been winning races in Grand Prix Midgets, Chris Curren who won at Redline and the returning Matt Brown.

Local heroes in Sedan racing will provide plenty of tin top action during the night with all fields extremely competitive. The Junior field will put Connor Donegan up against Daniel Powell who was great last season, Donegan has been strong this season with a second last weekend at Alexandra. Janie Patton and Zac Twomey are two Wangaratta racers keen to impress.

In Standard Saloons the Evans Brothers of Trevor and Gary bring their Station Wagons to do battle against last week’s winner at Alexandra, Trev Goldsworthy. Liam Powell, Jarred Burder a proven winner at Wangaratta and a host of local racers will be joined by one or two out of towners.

David Donegan has been in great form with a feature win and a night win on points to his credit so far this season at Alexandra, he brings his Holden powered V8 Cortina, yes you read that correct a Holden powered V8 Cortina to Wangaratta to compete with the locals.

Andrew Jordan from Alexandra Club like Donegan is in good form also and those two will along with Caleb Lincoln are keen to make the locals have a hard night. Luke Keam, Troy Peterson, Nathan Shortis, Tommy McDonald and Leighto Evans will all fly the Wangaratta flag in chasing the win.

Gates to enter will swing open at 12pm for fans with racing from 4pm & enquiries can be made to 0402 820 489. The venue operates with a licensed bar & as such BYO is strictly forbidden.

Entry for the event will cost fans the following: Adults $25, accept for club members and aged/disabled who pay $15 & $10 for teenagers and young adults between 10 & 18 whilst under the age of 10 will be free entry.

"Toowoomba's Best Family Night Out" turns pink this Saturday as Queensland's Speedway community converges on Charlton for the third annual Ultimate Pink Night where women of all ages are free.

With the express goal to raise money for Breast Cancer Research, the biggest event on Hi-Tec Oils Speedway's calendar will be boosted by a class field gunning for the Will Power 500 honours, along with a legion of Toowoomba's Top Guns in Modified Sedans and a twenty car field of Wingless Sprints.

Event Manager Ben Bishop was buzzing with the best weather forecast the speedway has seen this season, and was tipping a large crowd to be at an event that was "all about giving."

"This is the season of giving, and the Toowoomba Region are known nationally for our ability to roll up our sleeves and help others, and this Saturday, our venue will once again host one of the coolest innovations in fundraising with an event that really draws everyone together in a special way."

"We've really battled with weather this season, and to have a clear forecast for the whole week has really boosted everyone's enthusiasm, This event has raised over $10,000 in the past and we hope to keep increasing our contribution to a cause that has touched so many people. Almost every car this Saturday will have a touch of pink, as they get in the spirit of sending the message to our women that we care and we're "racing to find a cure!"

With the event only nine days from Christmas, Mr. Bishop said that inviting all women for free was great timing ahead of the extra expenses of the festive season.

"The only people who have to pay to get in to general admission are boys and men 13 years old and over, so that makes a very economical night for the family right in the thick of the Christmas season."

The Christmas theme will be well absorbed at the event with a confirmed appearance by Santa, who has also been rumoured to be having a drive in a race car on the night.

"We've been hearing rumours that Santa has done a deal with a local Sprintcar racer who has a car in red, black and white like his suit, but I've never seen him race, so I think the kids will go crazy if Santa actually gets in a racecar on the night. I guess we will see how he handles horsepower when he's only ever experienced reindeer power!"

Tickets are now available at www.speedwaytickets.com.au or at the gate from 3pm with the opening ceremony from 6pm. For more details check out toowoombaspeedway.com and the Hi-Tec Oils Speedway Facebook page for daily updates.